The latest forward bookings performance data, released by the Department of Tourism, show bookings from August to October are up 287% (187,667), while bookings for August to January 2023 have increased by 227% (294,220).
According to data from Sojern, domestic tourism and travellers across Africa continue to be the mainstay of the sector’s recovery during 2022, with 46.2% of flight bookings as of August coming from South African travellers. However, South Africa’s top international markets are already exceeding 2019 performance.
The United Kingdom’s percentage of international arrivals to South Africa in 2022 has increased to 9.6%, compared to 6.6% in 2019. US arrivals in 2019 were 3.9% and have grown to 6.6% thus far, while Germany’s 3.7% arrivals in South Africa are up to 4%. ‘These evolving booking patterns throw seasonal predictability out the window,’ said Stewart Smith, Sojern’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa.
‘These new consumer habits should be the building blocks of your ‘always-on’ marketing strategy, which optimally focuses on traveller intent at the right moment, wherever they are across their planning and booking journey,’ said Smith.
Ultimately your future-fit digital marketing toolbox should consider these four crucial factors.
1. Meet the traveller wherever they are in the digital booking landscape
In the face of shifting booking patterns, it is possible to be competitive if you understand your guest’s intentions and stay on top of why travellers are booking. However, it’s also vital to find new reasons to attract travellers.
A few years ago, hotels wouldn’t have imagined advertising to travellers to work on vacation, but travellers are currently extending their stays to take advantage of remote working. Having access to granular destination data insights and leveraging your existing data through a multichannel approach can help you do this.
Adopting three channels – display, Facebook/Instagram, and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – can double conversions, with such results coming from creating a well-rounded strategy from start to finish.
2. Target audiences and marketing channels to meet the intent
Travellers are dynamic and can jump from search engines to social media to travel sites and back again before making the final decision. Find the right traveller for your business ahead of the upcoming high season through travel intent data.
You can use services that monitor the intent signals of potential travellers across platforms and that are able to target them to help them book directly with you. It is important to set the goals and metrics of your Multichannel Advertising Campaign, so you can evaluate and adjust to see better results.
3. Cohesive messaging and design to draw the right traveller to book directly
Grab the attention of the target audience you’ve now identified with a polished message and well-designed advertisement. Draw on unique aspects of your business to help establish it as a preferred brand as you showcase special offers, packages and promotions relevant to your user. Google reported that 65% of Millennials and Gen Z travellers are inspired by digital content to book a trip. But you literally have seconds to tell the right story.
A recent Sojern AB test on hotel images found that exterior images had a 55% better click-through rate than images for rooms, lifestyle activities and amenities. Exterior images increased conversion by 4%. Additionally, room rates on ads also saw a much higher engagement and a 12.5% increase in conversion.
Ad size also matters and can save you money. For example, Sojern’s creative team found that in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, a 980 x 90 size creative in a campaign improved the conversion rate by 25%. Additionally, if you want your brand to stand out, use HTML5 ads, which have a 13% higher click-through rate and a 13% higher search rate on the customer’s website, in your campaign
4. Activate loyalty to prepare for a cookieless world
Loyalty means being hyper-relevant and hyper-targeted to your guest. It’s more than the practical application and transactional side of loyalty, which looks at points, value-adds and free nights.
There is a huge emotional connection that translates into brand loyalty if you get it right. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking the reason for a guest’s trip. But it’s what you do with the answer that matters.
As Google Chrome moves to phase out cookies in the second half of 2024, collecting first-party data isn’t a maybe, it’s a must. Loyalty programmes are an effective way to do this as you manage and grow your direct booking strategy.
Benefits of using first-party data for personalisation include the ability to draw on the guest experiences at all touchpoints of the buyer journey. As you host the data, you can control how clean it is.
The data provides personalisation so you can share the guest’s preferences across all areas of your company’s value chain, giving you more opportunities to build trust and wow them.
SOJERN
https://www.sojern.com/
